Joseph Smith's Vision of a Luminous Cloud
Published October 12, 2026 at 6:41 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While meditating in August 1856 about a conversation with a person named Yates regarding moving to Utah, Joseph Smith (the younger) reported seeing a funnel-shaped, luminous cloud descend from the sky and envelope him, hearing the words 'Because the light within you is greater than the light without,' as he sat in the shade.
In Their Own Words
“I heard a slight noise like that of the breeze, that arrested my speech and I turned my gaze slightly upward, and saw descending towards me a sort of cloud, funnel shaped, with the wide part upward. It was luminous and of such color and brightness that it was clearly seen though the sun shone at its summer strength. It descended rapidly and settling upon and over me enveloped me completely so that I stood within its radiance... As the cloud rested upon the ground at my feet, the words 'Because the light within you is greater than the light without,' sounded in my ears. Slowly the cloud faded and the vision closed. — Millennial Star 60:37”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 15 September 1898 (Vol. 60, No. 37). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1898-09-15_60_37 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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